THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



137 



Photograph by C. Hart Merriam 



ACORN CACHES IN YOSEMITE VALLEY 



The outer covering is of branches of fir, cedar, and pine, closely appressed, with the tips 

 directed downward to keep out the rain and the native rats, mice, and squirrels. The interior 

 lining is mainly of the long, slender branches of Hosakia or Lotus. 



While on the subject of Indian foods, 

 it may be mentioned that the nutritious 



/For these tables I am indebted to the U. S. 

 Food Administration. The analysis of acorn 

 flour was kindly made by Dr. J. A. Le Clerc, 

 of the Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Dept. of 

 Agriculture. 



2 This acorn flour was made from the Cali- 

 fornia black oak (Quercits cctlifornica) and is 

 very old, having been obtained by me from 

 the Mewuk Indians at Oleta, in the middle 

 Sierra foothills, 12 years ago. As a result it 

 is .exceedingly dry and without doubt has lost 

 much of its protein. An interesting compari- 

 son may be made with an analysis, by Charles 

 D. Woods, of acorn flour from the California 

 Valley white oak (Quercits lobata), which 

 yielded: Water, 8.7; ash, 2.0; fat, 18.6; pro- 

 tein, 5.7; carbohydrates, 65.0. This meal (un- 

 leached) contained 6.63 per cent of tannin. 

 The large percentage of fat in both kinds 

 shows their extraordinary richness in nut oil 

 and consequent high fuel value. 



nuts of the sugar pine and digger pine 

 and the berries of certain species of 

 manzanita are much used by California 

 Indians ; that the seeds, roots, and fruits 

 of numerous other plants form valued 

 additions to the diet, and that in times of 

 scarcity the nuts of the California laurel 

 and buckeye, of which hundreds of bush- 

 els may be had, are so treated as to be 

 edible. 



In the arid mountains of the desert re- 

 gion east of the Sierra the rich oily nut 

 of the pinyon or nut pine takes the place 

 of the acorn as the dominant element of 

 the food supply; and in certain canyons 

 bordering the Colorado desert the same 

 may be said of the native date, while in 

 the open deserts the mesquite bean is the 

 staple commodity. 



